#1
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How do you play fingerstyle accompaniment when the chord changes during the pattern?
I took up the guitar almost nine years ago in my early 50s but haven't progressed much past strumming. I have dabbled a bit with fingerstyle but started getting serious with it a few months ago.
I can play simple patterns accompanying vocals fairly well now, but I've wondered how to handle chord changes during patterns. For instance, if a song is in 3/4 and I'm picking strings 6 beats to the measure, I have two or three simple patterns that I'm fine with as long as the chord remains unchanged during the measure. However, songs don't alway cooperate. The measure may have a D chord for the first two beats and an A chord the last beat. On occasion, each beat is a different chord. Do you simply continue the pattern regardless the chord change, or do you have another strategy? Thanks. Bill |
#2
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You can do whatever you want. Use your ears. That said, a typical thing would be to pick a root note on the chord change.
For example:
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Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above |
#3
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[QUOTE=Broadus;4835501]I took up the guitar almost nine years ago in my early 50s but haven't progressed much past strumming. I have dabbled a bit with fingerstyle but started getting serious with it a few months ago.
I can play simple patterns accompanying vocals fairly well now, but I've wondered how to handle chord changes during patterns. For instance, if a song is in 3/4 and I'm picking strings 6 beats to the measure, I have two or three simple patterns that I'm fine with as long as the chord remains unchanged during the measure. However, songs don't alway cooperate. The measure may have a D chord for the first two beats and an A chord the last beat. On occasion, each beat is a different chord. Do you simply continue the pattern regardless the chord change, or do you have another strategy? Thanks. Bill[/QUOTE Emphasis on "simply". Do not make it more difficult than that for yourself. You hear the piece in your head, you know the chords and the need to transition between them. You simply step from one to the next as you would treads on a stairwell. Pick a chord's first note required to be sounded, per the pattern's sequence of notes, in a following chord and sound it first. Put that finger down first, IOW. This gives you a chance to get the other fingers placed on the other strings for the chord before they are sounded. This might smooth your transitions without the need to simultaneously place all fingers of each succeeding chord. I tend to place all the fingers simultaneously unless the chord is simply used in a single beat, or passing chord, and then I use only the components (notes) of it required to make the transition. |
#4
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Often, rapid chord changes within a bar are an opportunity to arrange a neat voice-leading sequence. In fact, often the reason the chords change that quick is precisely because there is some kind of bass line or melodic move that merely implies the given chords - without suggesting you need to play any more complete version of those chords. So it always depends on the song and the desired effect: (1) echoing melody or bass line (at least not distracting from the melody); (2) forming voice-leading lines; (3) smooth links between bars either side; (4) easy fingering!
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#5
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One of the things I've learned from watching professional performers, especially those whose voice is the main instrument, is that the guitar is the accompanist. When singing, the vocals dominate, the guitar is subordinate. That means on transitions sometimes all you need to do is strike the root note. For example, going from C to F back to C, you don't necessarily need to go the the partial F, or the barre F in that progression. Just hit that first fret low E string, then back to a full C. All you need to do is move one finger and the combination of that single note tonal effect and your voice in F will make the tune move. You don't have to finger the complete chord every time on every transition. I've learned a lot watching the pros on youtube, but this in my view was the biggest insight I've gotten.
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2011 Gibson J-45 Standard 2014 Martin D35 1971 Harmony H1204 Sovereign Jet Black 1970ish Harmony Buck Owens American 2012 Martin D1AXE |
#6
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Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate they time you all took to share. I suspect this will get somewhat like strumming did: this will happen without overly thinking about what I'm doing. I'm not there yet, but I see some progress in getting there.
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#7
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One particularly nice tangent to take is to progress from using the alternating bass thumb pattern (Mississippi John, Elizabeth Cotton, Merle Travis, etc) to bass lines. This usually comes along when you get to a "swing" tune or older pop ballad, either concurrent with moving into chord inversions or learning your own system of playing a melody in various keys and neck positions.
I arrange things with a solid bass, a melody line and a moving interior (harmony/counter) line. These three note lines are all you need. Incorporating "character" tones such as the 6th, M7th, diminished or augmented tones creates nice movement. The occasional fourth note (a triad against a bass) fills things out nicely. The right three notes together and interesting movement in the bass and interior voices are really all you need. This leaves room for the listeners ear to fill in their own final tonality according to their experience and desire. |
#8
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I play what I hear, in the style of the music I'm playing, and adapt patterns to fit it. Sometimes it means I pluck chords, or use other ways to fill beats while I continue the fills. I may base most of what I do in a particular piece around a single picking pattern, but not often. I'm not a slave to any single pattern, but I remain true to the musical style of the piece. When I first learned fingerstyle (started it 50 years back) I played patterns and learned them in great detail (built a library of them). Now, most of the time when I play, patterns get mixed and I rarely limit myself to a single pattern. |
#9
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Get a beginner Happy Traum or Stefan Grossman DVD and be amazed!
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Rick Schmidlin Don't Think Twice It's Alright |
#10
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Bill |
#11
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Bill |
#12
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There is a Pete Huttlinger DVD titled "Essential Exercises for Fingerstyle Guitar" which is a mixture of techniques, including finger picking patterns which I have used with students as supplementary material for years. I watch it a couple times a year to shake loose rust and sow ideas back into my playing. Pete is a superb example of someone who understood playing in style and mostly using fingerstyle techniques (the DVD is all fingerstyle oriented). It's about the price of a single lesson ($30 from Amazon dot com) and well worth it if you get only a few ideas from it. Boy I've gotten my money's worth out of it. |
#13
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Thanks for mentioning it. Pete continues to teach. |